KAREN JARVIS
Karen is the founder and President of The Message Factory, a public relations and marketing agency she formed in 2010 that is based in Winston-Salem, NC. She has 21 years of experience in newspaper, television and public relations.
Prior to forming her own agency, Karen was senior vice president at a Winston-Salem, North Carolina public relations firm for almost nine years. Throughout her tenure in the PR industry Karen led numerous high profile communications initiatives, national and local, from corporate restructurings and product introductions to awareness campaigns and event PR for numerous non-profit organizations.
Because Karen spent 12 years in local news outlets, serving as a newspaper reporter, television producer, reporter and news anchor, she is able to bring an insider's knowledge of the media to clients. She has worked successfully with media outlets to obtain clients exposure ranging anywhere from local blogs and online news links to media giants such as Better Homes and Gardens and Southern Living.
During her television career, Karen was a spokesperson for many causes and was responsible for bringing attention to those needs. She was often called upon to help develop ideas to enhance the messages. She also spent several years with the local NBC affiliate as a commercial producer. There she collaborated with clients to improve the visibility of their products and services.
Karen earned a Bachelor of Arts degree from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill and began her career at a weekly newspaper as a news reporter. Along the way, she won several state writing awards and later in 2003 she was named to the Business Journal's "Top 40 Under 40."
Over the years, Karen has been involved with numerous charitable organizations including the American Red Cross, Big Brothers Big Sisters and Lillie’s Friends. Currently, she is on the Board of Directors serving as president for the NC Triad Affiliate of Susan G. Komen for the Cure. She is also a former board member and marketing chairperson for the Second Harvest Food Bank of Northwest North Carolina. She is a bone marrow donor and enjoys a unique friendship with her marrow recipient, another Karen, who lives near Charlotte, N.C.